Intentional Discipleship- Who's Your One?

[00:00:01] Well, good morning. I feel like I haven't seen you in a year. [00:00:06] I can only do that once a year. So there you go. My name is Craig Jarvis. I'm the lead pastor here at village church east. It's my privilege to have this first Sunday of the new year with you. Last week, we were at village church of Bartlett, which was kind of cool. [00:00:21] Three services, and I think between the three, I. I saw almost everybody, and if I didn't, you know who you were. So it's good to see you again today. We're looking forward to some big things in 24. This message this morning that I prepared for you is one that really is near and dear to my heart. [00:00:41] It's something that I talk about every now and then and at least try and park on at least once a year. And so today is the day we get to talk about this one thing that is really near and dear to my heart. And my hope is today that you'll be challenged. Challenged to take a step of faith in a way that maybe you weren't prepared for when you walked in here this morning. But hopefully, the Lord will speak to you and you'll be prepared to do as you walk out. So I'm going to use a poem, actually, that I've used before. It's not a poem. It's actually from a book. And if you've heard this before, then you'll probably know where it's from. If you haven't heard it, then you won't. But let's see who can guess what book this is from. I won't grow up I don't want to go to school just to learn to be a parrot and recite a silly rule if growing up means it will be beneath my dignity to climb a tree I'll never grow up never grow up never grow up no, not me I won't grow up I don't want to wear a tie and a serious expression in the middle of July and if it means I must prepare to shudder burdens without a worried air I'll never grow up never grow up never grow up no, not me never going to be a man I won't like to see somebody try and make me anyone who wants to try and make me turn into a man catch me if you can. What book is that from? Peter Pan. That's right. Peter Pan. Very good. Yeah. How many of you would like to have a child that speaks like that, that thinks like that? All right. That's a little warped, right. It's a little weird. This is not a healthy way of thinking about life in general. If this is the attitude of someone, you know that they're in for a rude awakening, because you cannot stop the hands of time, right? You cannot stop. You must grow up, and you must grow up in order to just kind of handle life. If you don't grow up, you will not handle life properly. True or false? True. [00:02:54] And that's why this actually does not describe my growing up years. I think I've told you this before, but do you know where I spent my 16th birthday? I took the bus downtown. I camped out in front of the DMV until it opened, and I was the first one through the door. I wanted my license. Now, that's before you had to do all of the training and stuff like that. This is when you could just get a license off the rack way back in the day, right? You practiced on your dinosaur, and then you went and bought a car. [00:03:29] Can I make this idea personal, though? Here's to make it personal. Can I live as a Christian without growing up in my christian life, without my faith growing? [00:03:41] If it's not possible to do it, and it's certainly not healthy to do it in a physical way, do we make allowances to do it in a spiritual way? Like, I know Jesus as my savior, and that's the big thing, because if I get hit by a semi, I'm going straight to heaven, right? I got it taken care of. But to grow up in my faith, that's a totally different subject. [00:04:04] But without maturity, like in physical life, we will never be able to handle the big things. Later on in life, we'll get stuck. [00:04:12] In other words, if you struggle with faith based questions, if you struggle with speaking english language, if you struggle with faith based questions, it could be that you're not engaging your growth spiritually. [00:04:32] People that come up to me sometimes will ask me questions like this. Why would God let this happen? [00:04:37] Am I really a believer? How does God expect me to love my spouse when they treat me poorly? [00:04:45] What should I do if a man wants me to call him a woman or a woman wants me to call him a man? [00:04:50] What is wrong with religion? [00:04:53] Is Christ the only way to heaven? [00:04:56] And if not, what other ways are there? I mean, these are just questions that pop into my mind when I think about somebody that has faith but hasn't really engaged their faith to deal with these difficult questions. Like, if you're growing up physically, you're going to be pounded by life's challenges. And as you grow, you're going to be able to handle those. You're going to be able to chat. There's still going to be a challenge. Don't get me wrong, life is tough. But in your spiritual life, if you're not putting these questions to bed on a regular basis, then it might be time for you to start engaging spiritual growth. [00:05:36] The bottom line is this. [00:05:38] A growing faith is meant to replace my questions. [00:05:44] A growing faith is eventually meant to replace my questions. Now, does that mean that I will never have questions, for goodness sakes, no. [00:05:52] Just like in our physical life, as we grow, we still have challenges the older we get. Right? Constant challenges. And you will in your faith as well. But the difference is the person who has been molded by Jesus will have an easier time getting through the challenges of faith than the person who is stagnant in their growth. [00:06:15] I will not be able to understand what God is doing in my life and around me if I don't grow as a mature disciple of Jesus Christ. And I fear this, that we as the church have almost offered a faith understanding that is a lot like Peter Pan. All you need to do is get saved and you're good to go. [00:06:35] But that is not what Jesus describes. [00:06:39] In fact, this is what Jesus would say. I will grow as a follower of Jesus when I perceive my daily life constantly engaged by Jesus Christ. [00:06:50] Now, I'm not assuming that we all know Jesus here and online. If you're watching, I'm not assuming we all know Jesus Christ here. But it's interesting. The way you start your faith journey is the way you continue to grow in your faith journey. It is a constant dependence on Jesus Christ. [00:07:06] It's constant awareness that he is in control of the things in my life and I am not, and I can trust him. And as my trust grows, my faith grows. This is why Jesus constantly told his disciples the same demeaning phrase every time they would fail, he would look at them and he would go, oh ye of little. [00:07:30] It's time to grow, o ye of little faith. [00:07:35] When Jesus explained to us what our growth process should be like before he ascended to heaven, after he died, he rose from the dead. And before he ascended to heaven, he gave us what we call the great commission. And I want to read it for you. This is what our commission is. This is the way that we are meant to live out our faith. Matthew 28, verse 16. It's up on the screen. Or you can use your devices if you'd like to, or your bibles. Matthew 28, verse 16. Here's what it says. Now, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. But some, what's the next word? Church. But some doubted. So they've seen him crucified, and now they see him risen from the dead. And still some doubt it. So if you're struggling in your faith, take heart, literally, they saw a resurrected Jesus and they still doubt it. [00:08:37] So growing in faith requires an effort, because even if we saw Jesus risen from the dead, we would still struggle with the issues of faith. I find that comforting. Verse 18, and Jesus came. But let me just say one more thing there. The people who doubted, where were they? [00:08:57] They were on the mountain with Jesus, right? [00:09:00] They got up in the morning and they went to where Jesus was. So don't be too hard on them. They doubted, but they were still there. [00:09:09] Okay, keep going. [00:09:11] And Jesus came and said to them, all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. [00:09:33] Now, when you go for a job, a brand new job, what's the first thing they give you? You walk in there and you say, I want this job. You will say, what are my qualification? What are my responsibilities? What am I supposed to do at this job? And then the job, the guy that's hiring you, the girl that's hiring, will give you a job description. This is what you are meant to do at this new job. Jesus does the same thing for us when he says, oh, you're people of faith. Here's what your job description is. If you want to grow, if you want to make this yours, here's what you are to do. [00:10:08] The first thing is, go. [00:10:11] Now going is assumed. Actually, the way this is written in Matthew 28 is interesting because it literally means as you're going. So as soon as we're done the service here, you will leave here and you will go through the door. You will go down the hall, you will go through the parking lot, you will go to your car, and then you will go in your car to wherever it is you're going. [00:10:36] It's interesting that Jesus doesn't use this as a starting gate and he's holding a gun in the air and bang, go. [00:10:44] That's not what he's saying here. What he's saying is, as you are going, as you get up from your chair, as you walk through the door, as you walk down the hall, as you walk through the parking lot, as you get in your car, as you're going through life, this is what you are to do. This is your job description. In other words, let me just really emphasize this. Jesus is not saying everybody should go to Zimbabwe. This is not the point. The point Jesus is saying is, when I'm done speaking here, you are going to go somewhere else. And as you're going here is your job description. [00:11:23] Another verse that kind of goes along with this, I love this verse is in John 435. Here's what Jesus says in John 435. Different occasion, but very much similar idea. Do not say there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for Harvest. [00:11:45] Now, for those of us that don't gather a harvest, this needs a little explanation. And what that means is, if the wheat is ready to be collected, get off your duff and get the wheat right. Only a crazy person would plant all of this seed and sit inside binging on movies and not looking out the window to see everything's ready to go. Instead, if you don't collect that wheat, what does it do? [00:12:16] It'll fade away. It'll die off. [00:12:19] Jesus is saying, all you have to do is lift up your eyes, look around. Stop navel gazing, and look around. The fields are right here. They are in Zimbabwe. They are around the globe, and they are here, too. And as you're going, your fields are all around you. And I'm here to tell you, Jesus says, the fields are white. Now, you don't have to wait four months. The fields are ready. Now all you have to do is lift up your eyes and look for what's ready to be harvested. [00:12:57] It's time for us to open our eyes. In other words, the key is this. Gold means opening my eyes. To intentionally look for people. Intentionally look for people who I can help grow in their spiritual journeys. [00:13:11] Now, I did a little bit of artwork for you, and here's my artwork. I can't wait to show you. There it is, right there. Doesn't that look wonderful? Yeah. [00:13:20] It particularly means a lot to me because it has me at the center, and anything that has me at the center, I particularly take notice of. So me would be me or you. Okay, so that's you at the center. All of those circles represent relationship circles. Every one of us is, what is it, seven away from knowing what's his name? Yeah. Kevin Bacon. Yeah. Do we do that anymore? The younger generation is going who's Kevin Bacon? All right, so if you go through your relationship circles, the idea is seven circles away. Somebody will know Kevin Bacon. That's the deal. All right, this is another way of demonstrating that Kevin didn't make it on the screen. But all of these circles, some of them intersect with us, some of them intersect with us and others, some of us intersect with us and others, but not others after them. Either way you look at it, you have a large pool of influence. [00:14:16] We don't even know it. We don't even know who we're influencing from a regular day to day basis. But whatever circles intersect with you are God's providential, working in your life. [00:14:28] Those people are in your life for a reason. Say for a reason with me, please. Ready? For a reason. Nobody intersects with my life off the cuff by mistake. Everybody is in my life for a reason. God has a purpose for them intersecting with my life, and they in turn intersect with other people's life. And those people intersect with other people's life. But in our own lives, we have our circles, our intersecting circles, and they are there because God has plans for them to be there. These circles around you, some overlap, some don't. But God intends for all of those circles to be with you at the center. [00:15:14] The gospel is always portrayed as a moving endeavor. [00:15:19] In the Bible, it says, blessed are those who bring the good news of the gospel of peace. It talks about blessed are the feet of those. It talks about us. When we put on the armor of God, we prepare our feet with the gospel of peace. In other words, whenever the gospel is mentioned, it's always mentioned in a moving scenario. It's never mentioned in a stationary scenario. So when Jesus says, go into all the world, literally what he's saying is, wherever your feet take you, take the gospel with you and your circles of influence are all around you. All you need to do is lift up your eyes. [00:16:03] There's people all around you that need the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of us are intended to walk through life together to some degree. And when we do that, we take the gospel with us. This is a natural process. So I don't want to park any longer on this, but this is a natural process that when we go through life, when we walk through life, when we come across the people in our circles, we are meant to bring what has changed us with us. [00:16:34] And then the next thing is very important as you're going make disciples, making disciples is an intentional activity. Going is intentionally also. But most of the time we just go wherever we're needed. Next. [00:16:52] This one make disciples is an intentional effort. This one will take work. [00:17:00] Consider this, for my personal faith to grow, I must necessarily include other people. True or false? Listen, I'll tell you one more time. I'll ask you one more time. If my faith is to grow, I am going to need other people. True or false? [00:17:20] It is absolutely true. Because how can I forgive if somebody hasn't offended me? [00:17:27] How can I love if I'm the only person there is? [00:17:30] Learning to love yourself is not the greatest gift of all. Sorry, Whitney, that is not true. [00:17:36] Love one another, share with one another, encourage one another, forgive one another. Everything in scripture is about how we interact with others, because that's life. You're probably sitting today with somebody or you've left somebody behind at home or something like that, but your life constantly interacts with others. [00:18:02] This idea of making disciples is intentionally walking with the gospel into the lives of others. [00:18:12] All of these steps of growth must be intentional. [00:18:16] I must look for others and help them grow. And the irony is, when I help others grow, I grow. [00:18:25] That's the very cool thing about this. [00:18:30] I've known people in my life that have had children up to the point where they've had children. They were unique. [00:18:38] Maybe a little bit self absorbed, maybe a little bit too self absorbed in some cases, but then they have these little babies, and guess what happens to them? They become less self absorbed and more interested in those others. [00:18:57] That is natural, because without the care of a mother or a father for their child, that child is going to suffer when we grow. It's interesting that as we learn to care for others, we learn to grow ourselves. [00:19:14] This is also true spiritually. [00:19:17] The word make disciples, the word disciples is actually mathetase. [00:19:22] I know this probably means nothing to you unless you're a crazy greek loving person, but in the Greek, it's Mathetase. It literally means learner or pupil. But even more so, it indicates the idea of apprentice somebody that's learning so that they can grow, so that they can take what they're learning and apply it to everyday life. And in Jesus'day, he had many disciples. These were people that he was investing in on a regular basis so that they could grow in their faith. And in his day, he wasn't the only one with disciples. There were other people, other teachers called them rabbis, and they would have these mathetes, these disciples. And the disciples would always try to imitate their teacher. In fact, one of the things that Mathetes would normally do is they would quote their teachers all the time kind of give their teachers more cred. So as they're kind of walking along, they would say, well, rabbi Jimmy says, blank, blank, blank. And then they would get into another situation, and then they would say, well, Rabbi Samuel says, blank, blank, blank. They would quote their teachers, it's kind of like your professor when you go to school and they give you their own textbook so that you have to buy their $300 textbook in school. It's kind of like that. So that when you learn, you're learning from their textbook. The idea of having disciples for Jesus Christ is that we would help these folks, these mathetes, imitate their teacher. My goal in life is not to grow into a better version of Craig, because a better version of Craig is probably a worse version of whatever it is I started with. [00:21:09] Our goal in life as believers is to grow into a better version of Jesus. [00:21:15] We grow into him who is the head, even Jesus Christ. Our goal is to grow into the image of Jesus Christ. [00:21:23] Why? Because we're Mathetes. We are his disciples. We quote him. We speak him. We lift up his name. Because he's not just some rabbi. He is God incarnate. He is the savior of the world. And so if you're new to us, or if you're new to this whole christian thing and you hear us talking about Jesus a lot, that's why. Because he is our teacher. He is our God, he is our savior. He is who we're all trying to be, to imitate him. [00:21:58] It's interesting. [00:22:00] When jesus had a class to teach with his disciples, he was constantly in a classroom. True or false? [00:22:11] Name me a time when jesus said, all right, everybody gather in the classroom and I'm going to teach you. [00:22:18] I can't think of one. [00:22:20] However, I can think of a few places where he would gather people together and teach them in a group sermon on the mount. When he was in that house where they lowered you remember, they lowered the person that couldn't walk. There's a few times when he taught in a room, but it was never like, okay, meet at 601 South Bartlett. It's never a moment of time. Instead, where do you remember Jesus did most of his teaching? In a classroom or somewhere else. [00:22:49] Where did he do his teaching? [00:22:52] Everywhere. Everywhere. He's walking through a field. Let's take a moment and teach. He sees a pear tree or olive tree. Let's take a moment and teach. He sees a man who has somebody that has a sick daughter at home. Let's take a moment to teach. Somebody grabs his cloak. He takes a moment to teach, always taking a moment to teach. Where does he do this as he is going? [00:23:17] It's interesting to me that we take a moment here on Sunday mornings, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's pretty good, actually, that we take a moment in here and we do some teaching and some worshipping and all of that, but that's just to regenerate our batteries so that when we leave here and we go somewhere else, we can take the gospel that has changed us to others. [00:23:41] I love the idea that Jesus taught as he went and as an illustration, as an example for us. We are to do the same thing. We are meant to help somebody in our circles, no matter where we are or when we are. Like we talked about last week, be ready in season and out of season. Constantly be ready to share the gospel. [00:24:05] Think about your circles. Circles of family. [00:24:09] These are just a few. I mean, there's tons of these, but these are just a few. In the New Testament circles of family, it says, ephesians six four. Fathers, don't provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So apparently fathers are to, as they're going constantly, not in a classroom setting, but in their lives with their kids, constantly direct their children to grow up in the instruction of the Lord. How about older and younger? Older women? Verse titus two, verse three, and four. Older women are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children. In other words, no classroom setting, just older women. When you see an opportunity to speak and to share the truth of the way that God wants young women to love their husbands and their children and their families, do it. [00:24:56] Circles of reliable people. Two Timothy, two two. And what you have learned from me, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will also be able to teach others also. In other words, as you're learning from us, as you're learning from others around you, take what you've learned and entrust it to others around you. Expand the circles. [00:25:19] How about circles of people that don't know Jesus? John, 1718. Jesus prayer for his disciples, his mathetes. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. We are being sent into the world. [00:25:35] That means we are sent outside in everyday context to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. [00:25:46] Jesus lights us up so that we can be a light for others. [00:25:51] So that brings me to the so what? Can you believe we're here already? Well, this. So what is really long before I went home for Christmas. I got to see my mum over Christmas, by the way, mom, if you're watching. Hi, mom. [00:26:07] So I got to actually go home for a little while over Christmas and see my mom before I went home. [00:26:13] I think it was two nights before I went home. I was running the water in the sink in the kitchen downstairs, and the water just went. [00:26:22] And I said, beth, what's up with the sink? And she said, I think the sink's clogged. [00:26:29] So I did everything that you should normally know. Take a plunger and try and fix it without actually fixing it. And I let the water run. [00:26:37] And then it took longer and longer and longer to drain out. And I thought to myself, oh, man, I do not need this. But if I go home to see my mum for a couple of days and leave my family with a sink that doesn't go down, something worse might actually happen. [00:26:56] So I went to home Depot and I became a plumber and I bought a rotoruder or whatever those things are called, and I took my pipes off from under the sink and I ran that thing all down the sink and stuff came out. I can't even describe to you. [00:27:11] And I fixed the sink. I got it fixed. Four, 5 hours later, it finally worked. I smelled horrific. Took a couple of showers afterwards, but it fixed. The reason I tell you that is because something immediate needs immediate attention. [00:27:29] That needed immediate attention. And church, I am here to tell you I don't know how much longer our world will exist. [00:27:38] I'm not a doomsday, Sarah. Forgive me if that's what you hear, because I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that it is becoming more and more difficult to live in this world. It's becoming more and more difficult to survive in this world. There are wars on more fronts than I ever thought I would see in my lifetime. In weirder areas than I would ever see in my lifetime. [00:27:59] Lifespan is shortening for a lot of people around the world. [00:28:03] Last year in Nigeria, 52,000 christians were killed for their faith. Last year in Nigeria, life is growing more and more short for a lot of people, whether they're believers or not. It's becoming a really dark world to navigate. So I'm here to tell you that I think there's an immediate need for what I'm about to tell you in this. So what? Like, it might take us, like, I have a million things planned, but you might have to start taking the pipes off underneath the sink and do something a little bit different. Add this to your agenda because time is short. And to be honest with you, I can't even promise you or myself one more day. [00:28:47] So here's what I would encourage you to do one thing at our church that we do, that I love to do, I've done it several times with several different people. Some of you have done this as well. So you know how near and dear this is to my heart. It's become important to you. Some of you have become have started coming to our church because somebody has done this kind of ministry with you. What I want to encourage you to do the so what is I would like for you to consider doing. Who's your one? [00:29:15] Who's your one? Not who's your one? Who's your one? Here's what who's your one is. It's an easy way to help you make disciples. If you're interested in doing everything that we've talked about this morning, you don't need to come to a class, I don't need to sit you down and give you twelve steps. It's not really that difficult. Instead, one ministry that we love to do here at Village church east is who's your one? [00:29:46] What that is is it's finding somebody in your circles of influence and investing your time into. [00:29:54] You don't have to be a scholar, you don't have to be a seminarian, you don't have to have a theological degree. You just need to give up a little bit of time. [00:30:03] Number one thing that you could do is identify your circles of influence. There's somebody in your life, believer, non believer, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter. But there's somebody in your circle that needs your time. You know there is. In fact, you're probably sitting here now thinking to yourself of a couple of people who need your time. Now that is not a mistake. They are in your circle and they are going through a tough time. It doesn't surprise God, it surprises them. And you might need to start getting invested in their lives a little bit. So invest. Figure out who in your circle you could use your time for. [00:30:46] Again. You might know them for a while, they might be brand new. Maybe you've seen them as you've come to church. [00:30:52] You're not familiar with them, but you've just come to start to get to know them. And you just want to get to know them better. It could be a variety of things. Pray about it, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. But find one person, maybe two, but mostly just one that you can invest in. Then you could start giving your time to. All right, if you have a problem with this or challenge with this, just go home and pray about it this afternoon and write down three names of people in your circle that might be able to use a little bit of love, attention, grace, hope, something. They just need your time. [00:31:32] Write down three names. Pray over those three names. Ask God to give you one name off that list, and he will. And here's what I would love for you to do. Just spend some time with them. Do coffee with them once a week, once every two weeks. But make it a standard thing on your calendar. Write it down or it won't get done. [00:31:55] Write it down and make sure that they know you're going to spend time with them. Don't look at them like a project. Look at them like this is your opportunity to help them grow. And in the process, you will grow. [00:32:07] This is going as you're going and intentionally making disciples. Number two, here's your agenda. Know your agenda. The great thing about who's your one is there's no agenda. [00:32:19] There's really no agenda. You go, you have coffee, and you just chat. And I guarantee you stuff that will come out of that conversation will surprise you. [00:32:29] Just go and have coffee one to two times a month. Listen. Or once a week, or once every two weeks. Just listen and talk to them. All right. Now let me just caution you. This is not a teaching opportunity. You're not bringing a book and explaining to them the deep recesses of John Calvin or anything like that. You're going and you're just doing life with them. [00:32:52] I want to get to know you, and I'd love for us to develop a deeper friendship, a deeper relationship. [00:32:59] As people know you care about them, they're going to begin to share more with you than you probably ever thought that they would. But what means the most is the time that you invest in that person. [00:33:11] Number three, adjust your expectations. Don't look for birds of a feather. Birds of a feather do flock together. Maybe look for somebody that doesn't exactly match your feather colors. Maybe they're a little different from you, and that's okay. [00:33:28] Just about everybody was different from Jesus Christ, and yet he invested in them all. So, not necessarily a time to hang out with people that you love already, but this is an opportunity for us to invite other people that are in our circles into a deeper relationship with us. [00:33:46] Don't be specific about participants. They can be believers or non believers. They can be followers of Jesus or not. It doesn't matter. Just somebody in your circle that you know, you could help navigate in life, follow Jesus'example. There was nobody outside of Jesus'circle. Instead, you know what they called Jesus? They called Jesus as an insult to him. They said, jesus is a friend of a friend of sinners. Why would they call Jesus a friend of sinners? Because he hung around with sinners. That's the point. When he sees Zacchaeus, who they said was the greatest sinner in the village. Zacchaeus was a tax collector for Rome. He was a traitor, a jew who collected money for the enemy, the IRs. [00:34:31] So they said to Jesus, he's gone to have dinner at the house of a sinner. [00:34:38] So it doesn't matter who's in that circle. [00:34:44] God may have something for you to learn and them to grow from in your time with them. Matthew, by the way, Matthew, in Jesus'own disciples, his inner twelve. Matthew, do you know his job? [00:34:57] Tax collector. Simon was a zealot. Zealots were kind of a weird group. Judas, well, at least he had one dependable disciple there, right? And yet he invested in Judas for three years until Judas betrayed him. [00:35:12] So if they don't look like you, it doesn't matter. Figure out who on that list God might have you invest time in and build relationships, even when you put them on your calendar, so that you have them on your calendar. Number four, aim small. What do I mean by aim small? Not more than one, maybe two at a time, but one works really great. Just spend time with one person and see what the Lord does. Jesus had twelve, but you're not Jesus. And number five, prepare for the unexpected. What does that mean? Learn the value of their experiences. Cast a vision for the future. Tap into their passions. Address their character flaws. Focus on strengths. On their strengths. Give them resources. If you know them, ask me. I'll help you. Give them resources. Give them experiences. Encourage self growth. When you get into a conversation, you're going to go, oh, I don't even know how to handle this conversation. That's okay. If you need help, that's what the elders here are for. We would be glad to give you ideas on books that you could offer to them, that you could read together, anything like that. But my guess is after one or two, maybe even three meetings together, that person that you've started meeting with is going to share stuff you're not prepared for. And that's great because that's when discipleship starts. [00:36:36] Anyone can do this. Teenagers, older folks, anyone in between, anyone can do this. This is how Jesus taught. [00:36:47] This is how he made disciples as he was going to a coffee shop, Jesus made disciples, and those disciples turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ. [00:37:00] So if you need help, you can take a picture of this if you want to. But if you need help with any of this, that's what the elders are here for. But this is what you should be prepared for. Because in your conversations, if people know you're taking the time to love on them a little bit, they're going to start sharing stuff with you and you're going to be amazed at how God invites you into their life because you've taken a step to make disciples. [00:37:25] Well, Craig, what if I just don't know enough? What if I'm not ready to go? Do not underestimate the power of the holy spirit. [00:37:33] If you know Christ as your savior, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips and you'll be amazed at how the Holy Spirit uses you. A unique phenomenon happens when we rise to grow beyond the Peter Pan stage. As you help others grow, you grow. [00:37:53] It's an amazing blessing and it doesn't have to be difficult. [00:37:59] Remember the last week's message? [00:38:02] Those three guys all said that they would follow Jesus, and Jesus said to all three of them, a challenging statement where they all backed down. [00:38:14] But the last one stands out in my mind. He says anyone who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is not ready for the kingdom of God. [00:38:23] So church, I would encourage you, if you're a believer, if you're a follower of Jesus, no matter where you are on the scale, you've been a follower for a while. You've been a follower for just a couple of years, a couple of months. Whatever it is, wherever you are on the scale, you are called to go and make disciples. [00:38:42] I encourage you to stand up and take the challenge. Put your hand to the plow and move. [00:38:49] Move forward. [00:38:51] D. L. Moody once was asked about an engraving that he bought that he said publicly eventually disappointed him. [00:39:01] He saw this engraving in a store and he loved it. At first it was a picture of a vast, dark ocean, and above the ocean was torrential waves, and there was a cross sticking up on a little island and clinging to the cross. There was a man, broken and soaked and hanging on for dear life with desperation. He clung to the cross because it was his only way out, his only way to be saved from the raging waves and the darkness around him. [00:39:37] But a little while later in life, D. L. Moody saw a better photo, a better engraving. [00:39:43] It was so much better that it spoiled his view of the first one that he saw. And he was almost embarrassed that he had bought the first one because the second one was so much better, so much more lovely. And it gripped his heart immediately. [00:40:03] And here's the thing. It was the same dark ocean, it was the same waves, it was the same darkness, and it was a man clinging to the cross. [00:40:15] But he wasn't clinging for desperation of himself alone. Instead, with his other hand, he's reaching out to pull somebody else out of the water. [00:40:26] That is what we are called to do church. [00:40:30] We are not meant to get ourselves rescued and call it quits. We are meant to go. [00:40:38] And as we go, we are meant to make disciples. And so I give you what I think is the easiest way to do that, and that is give somebody your time. [00:40:53] Do it today, 2024. [00:40:57] Decide that you're going to participate in who's your one. We're not going to have you stand up and share it. Nobody's going to get embarrassed about it. But you're always welcome to come up to me every once in a while and just say, hey, listen, I've been talking to Jerry or whoever in my life. And yeah, you're know, we've been really growing in the Lord together. [00:41:19] If you're saved, if you know Christ as your savior, you are meant to use one hand to cling to the cross and another hand to pull somebody else up and rescue Father God. I'm grateful for this time that we had together to talk about our calling in life. [00:41:39] Thank you that you don't just rescue us and call it a day, but you give us a commission. Go into all the world, preach the gospel, baptizing. Thank you. That we have a baptism coming up that's so exciting. If there's others that need to be baptized, press on their hearts, help them to take advantage of this and to call it to make it happen, not wait any longer. [00:42:08] Time is very, very short. [00:42:12] So help us to lift up our eyes and look to the fields because they are white unto harvest. [00:42:18] And may there be a few in this crew, a few online, who would take this challenge seriously and decide that they are going to lift up their eyes, find that stock of wheat that they could invest in, and just give them a little time. [00:42:39] I pray in Jesus name, amen.